Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health, Aged Care and Indigenous Health Services) Share this | Hansard source

It saddens me today and it's with a very heavy heart that I rise to speak on the second reading of the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024. It saddens me because, whilst this is necessary at this point in time in Australia's history, the way I and most Australians view it, it should never be necessary. It should have been stamped out from the very start. It shouldn't have been allowed to escalate to the levels, the hurt and evil, that it has got to at this point in time. It's for that very reason that it saddens me that the leadership has been lacking for so long.

I come from the profession of arms, and I have spent the majority of my life being deployed to all sorts of places for that very reason—to combat evil. Mostlywe stand in front of those being persecuted with a weapons system, and we protect them from that evil. I know a little bit about wiping evil out and eliminating evil from the earth. There's an old saying that goes right back to the Romans; it's in Latin, and it's the phrase, 'Si vis pacem, para bellum.' That means, 'In strength, comes peace.' Unless you have strength and unless you have the leadership that demonstrates that, you will never have peace. Unfortunately, that's what we have gotten to. That lack of leadership has allowed this festering serpent to develop and grow to the point that it is spitting venom at those most vulnerable. I think the actions of this government have lacked that leadership, that strength, that power and that force in stamping this out, and that's why that escalation has taken place.

I actually visited Israel last year at the request of my good friend the ambassador, Amir Maimon. Amir served a life in the Israeli special forces, Mossad. He was an electronic warfare special forces operator working for the Israeli Army around the same time as I was posted in the Middle East. We have a kinship there, and we have become very close. I saw a very hardened man, a tough man, a strong man, a man with conviction and leadership, a man that deeply loves his country and was in another country representing the interests of Israel and the relationship between Australia and our friends in Israel, that great democracy.

I saw him heartbroken. I saw him bent over heartbroken because of what was happening to his beautiful country and his beautiful people. Unprovoked, a listed terrorist organisation—the head of evil—attacked their precious country, leaving 1,200 people dead. I visited the kibbutz Kfar Aza down south. You could see the photos. They had photos up outside the kibbutz. You could see the bloodstains and the bullet chips inside. You could smell after they had been there—these horrible, evil creatures—and burnt the place. This evil was committed in places that were supposed to be secure. There was no warning. Those hostages that were taken—can you imagine what that would be like in your town or suburb where you live today? Can you imagine what it would be like if 240 people were taken hostage, sexually abused and mutilated?

There's a thing called the '46 minutes', and it's chest cam footage which they captured of Hamas operatives. They were proud and boasting of killing, beheading, mutilating and raping. There were dead bodies of innocent Israelis. You imagine what would happen if that happened here. In retaliation and in trying to get those hostages back, we went on a world quest on who was right and who was wrong. And so the chants began. And so the hitchhikers jumped onto this thing that got a few headlines. If you ask those people chanting 'from the river to the sea' what river and what sea, they wouldn't have a clue about that, what it means or the destruction that I've just described. They wouldn't have a clue. They were just there for the headline, for the footage and to get on television. And that's when the government should have stepped in and been strong, and that's when that head should have been cut from that evil snake. Now that snake has bred, and there are many serpents all over the place, conducting evil on our beautiful country. It should have been stomped out and wiped out a long time ago.

That's why it's with a heavy heart that I have to talk about this. My good friend—he's been like a brother to me—Josh Frydenberg has been on the offensive on the reactive trail, trying to get the message across about how important it was for the government to step up. He turned himself inside out to get this message across. Whilst he's done a fantastic job, and I congratulate my brother in doing that, it fell on deaf ears. It has not been until now, when that evil has been allowed to escalate, develop and dig in, that we've decided to finally do something about it. I worry that this measure is all happening far too late.

The other issue that I want to raise is in relation to this bill. Whilst it's all well and good to have a criminal code amendment to this bill so that we can prosecute evildoers, this is a cultural act, and this cultural act needs to be cut off at the knees. It's up to every leader at every level—at state level, local government level and community group level. It's up to every person on the street to condemn this as strongly as possible. I'm not talking about vigilante action, but what I am talking about is that, if they know that everybody condemns this in such a bitter way then they might cease and desist a little. If we don't give them the air they so desperately need, and the fanfare and the headlines, then maybe they mightn't be so keen to recommit the same offence.

My Jewish brothers and sisters—and I mentioned this in my valedictory speech when I was describing Peter Dutton, and I meant it from the bottom of my heart when I said it: I have faith in him, I see a strength in him and I see moral courage in him. I know that you, Peter Dutton, will protect that little girl that is too frightened to go to school because she is Jewish. That's not the Australia I grew up in, and that's not the Australia he believes in either. That's the sort of leadership we should have had 12 months ago on this. That's the sort of leadership Australia really needed. That's the sort of leadership that will return Australia back to the great country it's always been.

The actual bill itself amends many things. Apart from a deterrent, it also gives the ability to remove the offender from the ability to recommit the same offence. While that's a good thing, that needs to be strengthened. I don't feel this bill is anywhere near strong enough. As far as I'm concerned, if you are going to commit such an evil act that is so against Australian values, Australian culture and traditions and the very essence of what we stand for as a country, the very accepting non-racist country that we stand for—if you are going to act and carry on like that, then there's no place for you here as far as I'm concerned. They're the sorts of measures that I think need to be looked at when we start being serious about developing this particular legislation.

I think after this episode, and with some strong leadership and some strong guidance in stamping this out, we can return to that country that I'm so proud of—a country that accepts people from all over the world irrespective of their race, their religion, the colour of their skin or anything else for that matter. We value you as a human being, the very essence of your soul, your heart. That's what it means to be an Australian. To be an Australian in relation to the matters I'm talking about today means joining with our Jewish friends, supporting them and espousing this terrible, heinous crime we're talking about.

The problem doesn't necessarily stop with this particular issue, the antisemitism issue that I'm talking about. I'm concerned about where this starts and stops; where does this end up? It's very similar to any action. If you allow one little thing to happen, then it will escalate and something else will happen. So what next? Does that then lead to attacks on the Catholic Church or the Anglican Church? Does it stop with childcare centres? Where does this stop? That's what I'm getting back to. If we don't apply that age-old theory of 'in strength comes peace', if we don't apply enough strength, then that serpent will continually strike, and it will come back, it will return, in even stronger forms. That's what I fear.

Whilst we're sitting here debating this particular amendment bill, I wonder whether it's simply something we have to have to keep the masses quiet. If it had come 12 months ago, maybe it would have come as a normal means of governance, good leadership and applying strength. The weakness has let in evil. That evil has developed. Innocent people are being hurt. Innocent people, their hopes and dreams, their security, are being crushed. Not many people in this place and not many people watching this particular show on television today know what it's like to have your life in the wind, where it's here one second and gone the next. That's what those Jewish people in those communities feel. They're wondering whether they're going to make it home. Imagine your own children. They're our brothers and sisters. Israel is our friend. They still haven't got their people home. They still haven't got their daughters and sons home. There's still damage there. Those bullet holes and that bloodstained wall that I talked about are still there. Those scars will never leave. They will never heal. But the last thing we need is more damage and more evil because we simply aren't applying enough strength. And that's all I say today. Si vis pacem, para bellum; in peace, we need strength.

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